Thousands of students across the state are eligible to receive publicly funded vouchers to allow them to attend private Christian schools where textbooks published by Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) claim the monster was actually a dinosaur that existed at the same time as man, an assertion which conflicts with the theory of evolution.

Critics, The Scotsman points out, have slammed the religious textbooks as “bizarre.”

A former ACE student, Jonny Scaramanga, 27, now campaigns against Christian fundamentalism. He tells The Scotsman that the Nessie claim was presented as “evidence” that evolution could not have happened.

“The reason for that is they’re saying if Noah’s flood only happened 4,000 years ago, which they believe literally happened, then possibly a sea monster survived.

“If it was millions of years ago then that would be ridiculous. That’s their logic. It’s a common thing among creationists to believe in sea monsters.”